Ken Shaliker has been exhibiting his bonsai trees at Southport Flower Show for 42 years

By Vania Goncalves

Ken Shaliker is showing off his bonsai trees at Southport Flower Show 2015 for the last time - after 42 years exhibiting there.

Ken started displaying his trees at Victoria Park in 1973 as an amateur, at the age of 21.

He found his passion for "Penjing" trees, the Chinese art of depicting trees and landscape, at the Show and he remembers it like it was today.

He said: "I came just to see the show. There was a big display of lilies and in the corner there were bonsai trees.

"I asked the chap: what are these?

"He said: 'I think they are called bonsai trees, they were sent to me by my supplier, that supplies the bulbs, as a present'. I asked him: 'Do you want to sell them?' He said: 'No, they are a present'. I just fell in love with them."

Ken Shaliker has been exhibiting his bonsai trees at Southport Flower Show for 52 years

Ken took a while to find out a bit more about those trees. He did just that a few years later when his neighbours moved in.

His neighbour was a journalist that has been out in China and Japan and his wife had learned about the trees so she was able to teach Ken. He went from an amateur to a professional in "Penjing" in just seven years.

"When I became a professional I got in touch with people in Japan, China, Korea and I was able to find out more," he said.

Ken learned with bonsai masters and studied the art. He ended up being a lecturer and a demonstrator of the trees, writing for bonsai magazines He spent six months at the Liverpool Museum talking about them to visitors.

"However he now feels the time is right to retire and - and what better place to do that than where he started.

"I have won around 40 gold medals at Southport Flower Show and I have got 740 gold medals in total (from all competitions he participated in). I am very lucky.

"I have enjoyed, it has been nice.

The "Larch" tree in Ken's exhibition is 40 years old

"The Flower Show has changed a lot over the years. It seems it will be a lovely show this year," he said.

Between the several trees that Ken has in exhibition this year, you can find labels such as "man", that doesn't know which way is going, "haven", a serene figure of heaven, the mother tree from China, and "Larch", a 40­-year­-old tree.

These trees can cost tens of thousands of pounds.

Ken feels good with his decision of retiring.

"I feel great. Someone has to go and my body is telling me it's time to back up because the weight on those trees is phenomenal.

"I will still keep a few trees, they are like my family."

However if Ken could change something about Southport Flower Show he knows exactly what would it be.